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April 17, 192s. 1,666,638

E. J. BENNETT` WARP KNITTED FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Sept.25. 1926 zaga.

"Uran Patented Apr. 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES y 1,666,638 PATENT OFFICE.

EARL J. BENNETT, OF STITTVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO H. R. TOBEY.

WARP-KNITTED FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

Application led September 25, 1926. Serial No.'137,728.

This invention relates to warp knitted fabrics and to the process ormethod of making the same.

In order that the principle of the invention may be readily understood,Ihave shown in the drawing and will describe a single embodiment of thefabric of my invention, and shall set forth the preferred or best Inodeknown to me for carrying out the process or method of my invention.

In the accompanying drawing,-

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of one of the needles, two yarnguides and other arts of a warp knitting machine upon which the fabricof my invention is prefer- -ably produced;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view in elevation representing a group ofneedles and corresponding portions of two guide'bars and the threads fedfrom guides of said bars in two consecutive courses;

Fig. 3 yis a somewhat diagrammatic view showing in a distended form andmuch enlarged a warp fabric constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of the fabric shown in Fig. 2 butin a normally contracted condition;

Fig. 5 is a view on a still smaller scale of the front face of thefabric; and i Fig. 6 is a similar view on the back face thereof.

An important purpose of my invention is to form a Warp knitted fabricwhich is not only non-running and non-revelling but has great lateralelasticity.

Ihile the fabric of my invention may be variously manufactured, I preferto knit the same upon a flat warp knitting machine and preferably uponone employing two thread carrying guide bars .each operated by anindividual cam or cams. It is customary to form warp knitted fabricsupon a Warp knitting machine having two independently operated threadcarrying bars, and it is alsoV customary in producing work upon such amachine to have the number of needles equal to the number of threadguides in each one of the two guide bars; in other words, it is commonto employ in such a machine one half as many needles as there arethreads supplie-d to the two guide bars, butnot with the arrangement ofthreads or for the purpose of producing the fabric herein described.

In the practice of my invention I desirof my invention (which is chosenmerely as v one form of many that may be provided) introduce threadsonly throughA alternate guide eyes of each of the two guide bars; thatis, in the present instance I introduce a thread through the first guideeye of the.

front guide bar, another thread through the third guide eye of that barand another through the fifth gui-de eye, etc., and I introduce a threadthrough the rst guide eye of the rear guide bar, another thread throughthe third guide eye of the rear guide bar, another thread through thefifth guide eye of the rear guide bar, etc. The two guide bars with thethreads sointroduced through the guide eyes thereof are independentlymoved and in the present instance so that in one course the threads ofthe front guide bar are introduced to the first needle, the'third, thefifth, etc.. and in the neXt course the same threads are laterallyshifted or lapped, and are fed to the third needle, the fifth, theseventh, etc., thus skipping over or lapping past the second, the fourthand the sixth needles. in both courses. In the formation of the saidfirst course. the threads of the rear Iguide bar are supplied ordelivered to the first needle, the third needle, the fifth needle. etc..and in the next course the said threads are laterally shifted or lappedso as in each instance to skip or lap past three needles, the' saidthread of the first needle thus skipping over to the fifth needle, thethread of the third needleskipping over to the seventh needle, etc.

It will, of course, be understood that the fabric thus produced, whileconstituting` a representative embodiment of my invention. is but asingle embodiment of many that may be produced' in accordance with theprinciple of my invention. In other embodiments thereof either threadmay skip a needle or needles other than or more than those hereillustrated and specifically described. The result is to produce afabric which is not formed of pillars or strand-like portions spacedapart by openings of greater or less length, but the fabric is onedevoid of substantial openings or spaces, inasmuch as each thread,although it may skip one or more needles, always passes about a needleso nearly adjacent the previous needle receiving that thread as to makethe fabric of a generally uniform character, though having differentportionsy thereof contrasted with each other, in that the two groups ofthreads extend or may extend relatively different distances from oneneedle to the next needle receiving that particular thread.

The result is to form a warp knitted fabric of very great elasticity. Iattribute this elasticity largely to the fact that the threads haveextended laps and particularly those threads here shown as skippingthree consecutive needles, such threads after each lap being immediatelyreturned upon themselves and then lapping as far in the oppositedirection.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I have in Fig. 1represented at A a single needle of a warp knitting machine, and at Band C respectively have indicated one guide eye of the front guide bar Band one guide eye of the rear guide bar C. One of the sinkers isrepresentedvat D and the presser bar at E.

In Fig. 2, I have represented in side elevation a portion of the frontguide bar at i B and a series of guide eyes b. At C I have representedin side elevation a portion ofthe rear guide bar and have represented atc the guide eyes carried thereby. It is, of course, to be understoodthat each of the guid eye bars is extended entirely across the machineand that preferably leach of said bars has as many guide eyes as thereare needles in the machine.. The said guide bars are operatedindependently in any suitable manner,` as, for example, by means of thegeneral character disclosed inthe patent to Weeper, No. 966,875, August9, 1910.

At F, I have indicated a number of needles, eighteen being shown, whichnumber corresponds with the number of guide eyes shown on the frontguide eye bar B and also corresponds with the number. of guide eyesshown on the rear guide bar'C.

I have in Fig. 2 illustrated the-threads as,

delivered by the front guide bar and by the rear guide bar in twoconsecutive courses, and it will be understood that in the disclosedform or embodiment of my invention the said two courses are duplicatedor rep eated throughout the remainder of the fabrlc, considering thesame both in its lateral extent and in its longitudinal extent.

It will be observed that the irst,third, fifth, etc. guide eyes of thefront guide bar B are threaded, and inthe first course the said threadsdesignated b are fed to the first needle, the third needle, the fifthneedle,

etc., such threads being shown in solid lines. In the next course thesame threads are fed instead to the third needle, the fifth needle, i

the seventh needle, etc., and are illustrated by dotted lines. Referringto the rear guide In said Fig. 3, several of the threads introducedthrough the front guide bar B are indicated at b in lighter shading, andit will be noted that in each instance the said threads` lap from afirst needle to a third needle, always skipping the intermediate orsecond needle. It will also be noted that the threads-introducedthrough'the rear 'guide bar B are indicated at c as introduced to alirst needleand then to a fifth needle, and then back'again to the said firstneedle, skipping or lapping past all the intermediate needles, saidthreads being indicated by the heavier shaded lines. The loops formed atthose needles to which threads are at any time supplied are of thecharacteristic shape of warp knitted loops, and are shownupon anenlarged scale in Fig. 3. This figure shows the fabric laterallydistended so as to make the path of each thread clear.

Those needles which are skipped in the lapping of the threads I ter-1nthe non- I may term ribs or ridges indicated at 1 lin Fig. 4, theseso-called ribs extending longitudinally of the fabric, that is,lengthwise of the knitting, and giving the fabric an appearance uponthat face very closely re- Semblngordinary rib knit-ting. The oppositeface of the fabric, namely, the back face shown in Fig. 5 has theappearance of fiat warp work. The fabric knitted in accordance with myinvention is of substantially uniform texture throughout and is composedof two sets of threads, one Yset whereof is throughout the fabric lappedashort distance, and the other set is throughout the fabric lapped amarkedly greater distance, the length of the set of short laps beingmaterially greater than the width of a knitted loop ofthe fabricmeasured transversely of said fabric, and the length of the other set ofsaid laps being markedly greater than said short laps. The threads ofthe prolonged loop enhance the elasticity.

As an illustration of the great elasticity of the fabric constructed inaccordance with my invention, I may state that in finishing ordinarytricot warp knit cloth made 144 inches .in width, the finished clothwill measure about 84 inches in width, and that cloth when properlyfinished is dressed until there is no longitudinal elasticity. Infinishing cloth 4produced in accordance with my invention, cloth made144 inches in width will shrink when finished to 55 inches, but willstretch easily out to 100 inches in width and will return, whenreleased, to 55 inches r without any manipulation.

It will be understood that in a fabric constructed in accordance with myinvention, both sets of threads are so lapped back and forth that thefabric is one devoid of holes or openings, but is nevertheless of asomewhat open structure due to the constant missing or skipping ofcertain needles by the threads as described. The lapped portions of thethreads extending as they do from one needle loop to another needleloop, permit the fabric to be very considerably extended laterally, butimmediately upon release of the fabric the needle loops, which have beencontracted when the fabric is laterally distended, enlarge to theiroriginal size and drawv upon the lapped or intervening portions of thethreads so as to cause the fabric to return at once to its originalwidth. A

The two sets of threads may, of course, be of the same color or ofcontrasting colors, and with the contrasting colors it is obvious thatmany different designs may be provided, dependent upon the extent of lapof the two sets of threads.

It will also be understood that within the vscope of my invention theextent of lap of either or both sets of threads may be varied during theformation of the fabric. In other words, it is not necessary that thatset of threads here shown as lapping from a first needle to a thirdneedle always have such lap throughout the entire fabric, as at parts ofthe fabric the same threads may be lapped a different extent.

The lapping of one set of threads a minimum distance, as, for example,from the first needle to the third needle, I believe to increase thenormal elasticity of the fabric to a certain extent, but any suchlapping would be insufficient for the purpose of my invention which .ischaracterized by the lapping of another set of threads a substantiallygreat-er distance and preferably from the first to the fifth needle.Obviously if allthe threads were lapped a maximum extent, as, forexample, from the first to the fifth needle, the fabric would betooflimsy, and it is only by lapping certain of the threads a minimumdistance and the other threads a substantitlly greater distance that thefabric of my invention is produced.

Havingthus described one embodiment of the fabric of my invention andthe best Inode known to me for practising thel method or processthereof, I Adesire it to be understood that although specific terms areemployed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth inthel following claims.

I claim:

l. A warp knit fabric of substantially uniform texture throughout, andtherefore devoid of pillars or partially disconnected wales, said fabricbeing composed throughout of two sets of threads, one set whereof isthroughout the fabric lapped ashort distance and the other set whereofis throughout the fabric lapped a markedly greater distance, the lengthof the set of short laps being materially greater than the width of aknitted loop of the fabric measured transversely of said fabric, and thelength of the other set of said laps being markedly greater than saidshort laps, whereby the threads of the prolonged lap enhance theelasticity, said fabric beingof equal thickness throughout and beinglaterally highly elastic, said fabric being non-raveling andnon-running.

2. A warp knit fabric of substantially uniform texture throughout andtherefore devoid of pillars or partially disconnected wales, said fabricbeingnon-running and non-raveling and being laterally very highlyelastic, said fabric being composed throughout of two sets of threads,one set thereof being throughout the fabric lapped substantially twicethe distance of the other set of threads, the length of the set of shortlaps being materially reater than the width of a knitted loop ofg thefabric measured transversely of said fabric, and the length of the otherset of said laps being markedly greater than said short laps, wherebythe prolonged loop enhances the lateral elasticity.

3. That process of making a warp knit fabric that is non-running,non-raveling, and of great lateral elasticity, which includes rovidinga. plurality of warp supplying ars, providing a number of threads equalto the number of needles, lapping one of said bars so as constantly t-omiss alternate needles only, and lapping the other of said barsconstantly toy a greater extentV -Y 4. That process of making a warpknit fabric that is non-runn' non-raveling, of uniform vthickness througout and of great lateral elasticity,` whicli includes providing aplurality of warp supplying bars, providing anumber of threads equal tothe number of needles, lapping one of said bars from the first needle tothe third needle lthroughout, so as constantly to miss the second needleof each series of three and lapping the other of said bars from thefirst needle to the fifth needle throughout, thereby constantly missingthree needles of each series of five, whereby prolonged laps are formedwhich markedly increase the lateral elasticity of the fabric.

5. That process of making a warp knit vfabric that is non-running,non-raveling, of

uniform thickness throughout, and of great lateral elasticity, whichincludes providing a yplurality of war supplying bars, providf ing anumber of threads equal to the number of needles, lappino one of saidbars throughout the product1on of the fabric, so as to miss a. minimumnumber of needles with each thread of one series of threads, and lappingthe other of said bars throughout the fabric so as to miss a largernumber of needles with each thread of that series of threads.

6. That process of making a. Warp knit fabric that is non-running,non-raveling, of uniform thickness throughout a-nd of great lateralelasticity, which includes providing a pair of warp supplying bars,providing a number of threads equal to the number of needles, lappingone of 'said bars throughout the production of the fabric so as to.degree of lateral elasticity is provided.

In testimony whereof, I have signed Inyv name to this specification.

EARL J. BENNETT.

